LCPS All-County Band concert wraps up Arts in the School Month on Saturday
Kinston High School senior Devin Hayes, practicing under the gaze of KHS music specialist Leonard Palmer, will take the stage Saturday for the LCPS All-County Band concert, his fourth appearance with the all-star group in as many years.
Kinston High trumpeter Devin Hayes is heading to Fayetteville State University on a full-ride music scholarship, but before the senior says goodbye to high school he’ll say hello again – for the fourth time in as many years – to the LCPS All-County Band.
He and 134 other middle and high school students will take the stage Saturday for the 2025 edition of the yearly all-star concert, the final of three events that make up the Arts in the Schools Month celebration by Lenoir County Public Schools. The All-County Chorus concert was held this past Saturday and the All-County Art show opened Wednesday.
The All-County Band concert begins at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center on the campus of Kinston High School. Admission is free.
“I’ll see some old faces and some new faces,” Devine said, anticipating the gathering of musicians from
LCPS’s four middle schools and from Kinston, North Lenoir and South Lenoir high schools, as well as Greene Central High School. “I’ll be able to experience other musicians and see how they have progressed.”
To a degree perhaps unique to musical ensembles, All-County Band – with its weeks of school-based practice prior to the performance and the hours of intense work with guest conductors on the eve of the concert – blends individual talent into a production long on harmony.
“All-County Band offers students a unique opportunity to perform in a large ensemble, expanding their musical experience beyond the classroom,” said Amy Jones, the district’s high school and CTE director who organizes the band concert. “This event not only enhances their technical skills but also fosters teamwork, discipline and individual responsibility within an ensemble setting.”
Helping form student musicians from eight different schools into a cohesive unit will be two experienced music educators who make music themselves. Patricia Knauf will work with middle school musicians as clinician and guest conductor. Currently a music educator at Noble Middle School in Wilmington, Knauf has years of experience teaching music and band in eastern North Carolina schools. She holds a bachelor of music education degree and a master’s of music education degree, both from East Carolina University. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the North Carolina Band Directors Association, and performs regularly with the Wilmington Symphonic Winds and the Wilmington Virtuosi Brass. Music educator, conductor and composer Cybil Haskins will work with and lead the high school band.
She currently teaches music theory, choral and instrumental methods, arranging and conducting at North Carolina Central University, where she serves as an assistant professor of music and as music education coordinator. Her experience teaching young musicians ranges from the elementary to collegiate levels in general music, choir and band. She is pursuing her doctorate in music education.
“Throughout the weekend, students will work under the direction of these skilled guest clinicians, refining their musicianship while preparing for a showcase performance,” Jones said.
Even for Devin, who first picked up a trumpet as a Rochelle Middle School sixth grader, All-County Band is a special musical experience. “I’ll get to hone my skills. This is different from playing marching band music or jazz band music,” he said. “It takes a lot of skill in order to actually play concert music.”
Kinston High will send eight students to All-County Band, most of whom have been there before, according to the school’s long-time music specialist Leonard Palmer. It’s a reunion with a touch of competition.
“All-County Band allows these students to have a sense of belonging within our community of schools while also allowing them to see how they measure up to students from different schools,” Palmer said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to see how well they measure up.”
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